Sixers Will, And Should, Emulate How The Nuggets Earned A Title

Let the copycatting begin. Like most teams do after watching another capture a world championship, the Sixers will study how the Denver Nuggets won their first NBA championship in 47 years. Teams will try to emulate the offensive style of play. Dissect how coach Michael Malone got his team to buy into his defensive schemes and other nuances and intricacies. So what did the Nuggets run tell us about the Sixers? I think a lot. 

The first comparison between the two teams goes directly to the stars of each team. Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. So let's take a closer look there.

In Jokic, the Nuggets have a dominating big who can score inside and out. A big man who can get where he wants with ball fakes and finesse moves with fantastic footwork. One who can dominate the paint with a bevy of moves and who is adept at getting to the foul line. Sound familiar? 

Yes, those lines can be used to define Embiid just as easily. And that's a good thing. Now here is where the emulation for Embiid should start. Jokic is, obviously, a terrific passer who is always aware of where teammates are spotted up or where they are cutting. He uses his height to throw over and around defenders and is conscious of getting all his teammates involved. 

Now can Embiid learn to be as good of a passer as Jokic? Well, it's not as big an ask as you might think. It all comes down to how he positions himself on the floor. Both he and Jokic are going to command double teams. So the key - where Jokic is very good and Embiid still developing is to be able to see defenders at almost all times. Spin dribbles in traffic, turning back to defenders, and not knowing where doubles are coming from is a huge key. Again, it's not really that big of an ask.

But where things need to also change is the way the offense is run. Will new head coach Nick Nurse run an offense that is filled with movement, where players are cutting and giving Embiid open passing lanes? That would be a huge help. And something Embiid is capable of doing. 

Now the other glaring difference between Denver and Philadelphia is this: Denver has more than a few players who can both beat defenders off the dribble or hit stand-still jumpers. The Sixers have one, in Tyrese Maxey. That ain't good enough. To be able to run a flowing offense, dribble drivers are so needed. Maybe Nurse can grow some in the roster he's inheriting or maybe it's up to Daryl Morey to go and get some. 

The Sixers have a new head coach. Doc Rivers is out. Nick Nurse is in. Sixers fans have had two up-close looks at Nick Nurse in the playoffs during his time with the Raptors. In 2019 we saw his schemes confound Joel Embiid. He threw all types of double teams that had Joel Embiid struggling badly to find his rhythm. It was Kawhi Leanord's bouncing shot that put the nail in the coffin for the Sixers that year. But it was also Nick Nurse whose scheme had the Sixers so out of sorts. We later saw him in the 2022 playoffs. Although that time his team had a lot less talent. Still, we saw his team force a game 6 after the Sixers took a 3-0 lead. So his coaching style was still fairly annoying for us.

Now we are going to see a lot more of him. He becomes the 3rd coach of the Process era. Neither Brett Brown nor Doc Rivers could get them out of the 2nd round, let alone to the Finals. Nick Nurse gets the 3rd try at it. He joins a team that has the reigning MVP in Joel Embiid but has had many issues beyond that. And even with Embiid, we saw him struggle in the final game vs the Celtics, so there is work to be done there too.

So what should we expect from him? Who better to ask than one of his former players? His PG for much of his time in Toronto spoke about Nick Nurse on Stadium's Inside the Association Show. He gave his thoughts on the Sixers hiring Nurse, how he thinks he will fit, his appreciation for Nurse as a coach, and more. See all of what Fred VanVleet had to say about Nick Nurse below.

[Source: Stadium]

The one thing everyone seems to say about Nick Nurse is that he is a great X and O guy. Sixers fans have had a lot of issues with both Brett Brown and Doc Rivers seemingly not having much of a plan. We have seen way too much standing around. Both those coaches did certain things well. But the scheme was not one of those things. In Nurse, they now have someone who brings fresh ideas. And hearing VanVleet echo that, is certainly promising.

Daryl Morey made it clear that the players would not have a say in who the next coach is. But he also said they had to find someone who fits with the players they have. Namely with Joel Embiid. Embiid and Nurse apparently did meet. And as VanVleet put it, if Joel Embiid buys into the "crazy stuff" Nurse likes to run, it should be a nice change of pace for the Sixers team.

We saw with Doc Rivers, his former players were pretty happy to see him go. Doc did not get along well with Paul George, or with many of the Clippers players apparently. That does not seem to be the case with Nick Nurse. At least Fred VanVleet seems to be sad to see him go. Having your players like you is just part of the battle to be a good coach. Joel Embiid reportedly liked Doc Rivers, and that did not prevent things from going sideways. But it is good to see that his former players are still fond of Nurse.

Can we blame him too much for the Raptors the past few years? They went from a very talented team to an average team following that Finals win. He still had them as a competitive team following Kawhi leaving. But after a while, it was just hard to compete with Pascal Siakim as the best player on the team. He will get another chance to coach an elite talent this year.

Pretty high praise from VanVleet. Was Kawhi the biggest reason they won that year? Probably? But at least for VanVleet, he gives Nurse a ton of credit. And from the outside, it was easy to see how his coaching helped push them over the top. The only question is will he bring the same thing for the Sixers? I guess we will find out.

Just more praise from VanVleet for Nurse. It certainly feels like the two of them were close. Could a reunion be in store? VanVleet is going into the final year of his deal and has a player option. But do they have enough money to bring a player like VanVleet in? Morey is going to have to be creative this offseason. But given how much VanVleet seems to like Nick Nurse, it is certainly something to keep an eye on.

As for him saying he hopes the Sixers don't do too well, fair enough. It would be pretty weird for a player on another team to root for the Sixers. it does sound like he genuinely wants to see Nurse succeed though. Notice he said if I'm not there though. Meaning it is on his mind he could be there. Again, just something to think about.